Thursday, 16 June 2011

Château de Boulogne-sur-Mer; built 13th century

From The Tudors, episode 7. Katherine Parr's letter to Henry while Regent of England; during his siege of Boulogne, France.

Although Your Majesty's absence has not been long, yet the want of your presence means that I cannot take pleasure in anything until I hear from Your Majesty. Time hangs heavily. I have a great desire to know how Your Majesty has done since you left, for your prosperity and health I prefer and desire more than my own. And although I know Your Majesty's absence is never without great need, still love and affection compel me to desire your presence. Thus love makes me set aside my own convenience and pleasure for you at whose hands I have received so much love and goodness that words cannot express it. We hear word of ill weather and delays besetting you and though we thank God for your good health we anxiously await the joyous news of the success of your great venture and for your safe and triumphant return for which all England offers daily prayers. I fear am I but a poor substitute for Your Majesty in the matter of the guidance of your kingdom. I long for your return. I commit you to God's care and governance.
By Your Majesty's humble obedient wife, and servant,
Katherine, the Queen

The actual letter which she wrote in July 1544; it was written during Henry's six-week absence while he was in Boulogne, France and during the Regency of Queen Katherine. Its tone is loving and respectful.

Although the distance of time and account of days neither is long nor many of your majesty's absence, yet the want of your presence, so much desired and beloved by me, maketh me that I cannot quietly pleasure in anything until I hear from your majesty. The time, therefore, seemeth to me very long, with a great desire to know how your highness hath done since your departing hence, whose prosperity and health I prefer and desire more than mine own. And whereas I know your majesty's absence is never without great need, yet love and affection compel me to desire your presence.
Again, the same zeal and affection force me to be best content with that which is your will and pleasure. Thus love maketh me in all things to set apart mine own convenience and pleasure, and to embrace most joyfully his will and pleasure whom I love. God, the knower of secrets, can judge these words not to be written only with ink, but most truly impressed on the heart. Much more I omit, lest it be thought I go about to praise myself, or crave a thank; which thing to do I mind nothing less, but a plain, simple relation of the love and zeal I bear your majesty, proceeding from the abundance of the heart. Wherein I must confess I desire no commendation, having such just occasion to do the same.
I make like account with your majesty as I do with God for his benefits and gifts heaped upon me daily, acknowledging myself a great debtor to him, not being able to recompense the least of his benefits; in which state I am certain and sure to die, yet I hope in His gracious acceptation of my goodwill. Even such confidence have I in your majesty's gentleness, knowing myself never to have done my duty as were requisite and meet for such a noble prince, at whose hands I have found and received so much love and goodness, that with words I cannot express it. Lest I should be too tedious to your majesty, I finish this my scribbled letter, committing you to the governance of the Lord with long and prosperous life here, and after this life to enjoy the kingdom of his elect.
From Greenwich, by your majesty's humble and obedient servant,
Katharine the Queen.

Saturday, 11 June 2011

What exactly did it mean back in the Tudors reign to be a "commoner"? Has it changed at all over the years -- because someone I was talking with insists that it just means 'not royal' -- which is not correct. From what I know a commoner is anyone who does not hold a title in the peerage or is not the monarch. If Katherine Parr had been married and became Lady Latimer she was no longer considered a commoner

Normally one refers to or addresses Baron [X] as Lord [X] and his wife as Lady [X].

-- and after his death became Dowager Lady Latimer. In her biographies, it is quoted that she is the first woman besides her great-aunt, Mabel Parr who became Lady Dacre, to marry into the peerage and receive a title.

Friday, 10 June 2011

The Tudors King Henry as portrayed by Jonathan Myers and Queen Katherine Parr as portrayed by Joely Richardson

What did they really looked like during their reign?

Thanks to countless interpretations of Henry VIII's six wives on film we have certain pre-conceived ideas as to what they look like. When the exhibition of Henry's six wives at Hampton Court displayed portraits in 2009, it was of the ones below. Compared to the authentic portraits -- these seem contemporary and make some of the wives look ugly! What's your take? Would Henry really marry these women if they were so plain and ugly? Are these really true to life portraits?

King Henry VIII c.1520

At the time of Henry's marriage to Queen Katherine of Aragon, Henry was still a young man; fit. By the time of Queen Katherine Parr, Henry looked like --

King Henry VIII c.1545

-- The Queens of Henry VIII --

The Tudors Queen Katherine of Aragon portrayed by Maria Doyle Kennedy

Katherine of Aragon by an unknown artist, 1530s.

The Tudors Queen Anne Boleyn as portrayed by Natalie Dormer

Anne Boleyn by an unknown artist, possibly contemporary.

The Tudors Queen Jane Seymour as portrayed by Annabelle Wallis

Jane Seymour by one of the ‘Cast Shadow Workshop’, c 1536.

The Tudors Queen Anne of Cleves as portrayed by Joss Stone

Anne of Cleves by Barthel Bruyn, 1530s.

The Tudors Queen Katherine Howard as portrayed by Tazmin Merchant

Katherine Howard, probably a copy of a contemporary work by Holbein. This painting is interesting because it was originally identified as being of Katherine Howard but then this was rejected in the last century and it was decided that it either depicted Henry VIII’s niece Lady Margaret Douglas or Jane Seymour’s sister, Elizabeth, who married Cromwell's son. However, opinion would appear to have swung in the opposite direction thanks to its close resemblance to the only known likenesses of Katherine.

The Tudors Queen Katherine Parr as portrayed by Joely Richardson

Katherine Parr by an unknown artist, probably contemporary. Recently identified by biographer Susan James, author of "Catherine Parr: Henry VIII's Last Love". Not all are in agreement as to if this is really Queen Katherine.

Thursday, 9 June 2011

All of King Henry's wives had one thing in common, they all descended from Edward I; some by his first wife Eleanor of Castile or by his second, Marguerite of France; and in some cases both! In Hampton Court Palace in King Henry VIII's apartment there are six stained glassed windows showing his wives pedigrees from King Edward I. As some were descended mutiple times or by both wives (Katherine descended from both) the more prominent ancestry was featured. It is quite a site and if you ever have the chance to visit when the light is right you will be in awe! To show you the magnificence, here is an example -- Queen Katherine Parr's pedigree window.

From Atonia Fraser's The Wives of Henry VIII, pg 363:

The following genealogy should be seen as a reflection of the narrowness of aristocratic society in a world of small population, rather than as some unconscious desire [that King Henry VIII might have] to commit forms of incest as has been suggested. The wives of Henry VIII were not "closely" related or to King Henry himself. The exception would be of the first cousins Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard; Henry's 2nd and 5th wife whom shared the same grandfather, Sir Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk by his 1st wife Elizabeth Tilney (herself the daughter of Elizabeth Cheney by her first husband Sir Philip Tilney. Elizabeth married secondly Sir John Say. Her daughter Anne would become grandmother to Queen consort Jane Seymour, thus making Queen Anne, Queen Jane, and Queen Catherine Howard second cousins).

Katherine Parr was a maternal 3rd cousin, once removed and and a paternal 4th cousin, once removed of her 3rd husband, King Henry VIII. Queen Katherine Parr was of royal Lancastrian blood. Unlike all the other queen consorts, Katherine was the only queen consort of Henry to have descended from the Beaufort family (eventually legitimized children of Prince John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and mistress, later wife, Katherine Roet) through which King Henry VII claimed his throne. Katherine descended from Lady Joan Beaufort and her second husband Sir Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland. Henry and Katherine had Lady Joan Beaufort (only daughter of John of Gaunt and Katherine) and Sir Ralph Neville in common as his maternal great-grandmother was their daughter Cecily Neville, Duchess of York; sister of Katherine's great-great grandfather Sir Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury. Sir Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury --discussed later on-- was the husband of Alice Montacute, suo jure 5th Countess of Salisbury. Alice's mother, Lady Eleanor Holland was the sister of King Henry's paternal great-great-grandmother, Margaret Holland, wife of Sir John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset (grandfather of Henry VIII's grandmother, Lady Margaret Beaufort) again making them paternal 4th cousins, once removed.

Lady Joan Fogge, grandmother of Queen Katherine Parr

Another surprise relation came from Katherine Parr's mother. Maud Green's great-grandmother was Lady Alice Hawte or "Haute", daughter of Sir William Haute and Lady Joan Woodville; daughter of Richard Woodville and Elizabeth Bodulgate. Lady Joan was the aunt of Queen consort Elizabeth Woodville thus making Katherine again a maternal 3rd cousin, once removed of her husband.

FitzHugh coat of arms

When I started this blog I originally started here with Katherine Parr's grandmother, Lady Elizabeth FitzHugh, but I wanted more of an introduction.

King Richard III and Lady Anne Neville

Starting with Lady Elizabeth FitzHugh who was the mother of Katherine Vaux, wife of Sir George Throckmorton of Coughton Court. Elizabeth was the niece of "Warwick, the Kingmaker" and the paternal grandmother of Queen Katherine Parr, 6th consort to Henry VIII. Lady Elizabeth's mother, Lady Alice Neville, was sister of the "Kingmaker" and aunt of the last Plantagenet queen, Warwick's daughter, Lady Anne Neville, whom she served with her daughter as ladies-in-waiting.

Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury

Sir Thomas Montacute, 4th Earl of Salisbury and Lady Eleanor Holland

Lady Alice's father was Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury -- by right of his wife, Alice Montacute. Alice Montacute's father was a descendant of Joan of Acre. Her mother was Lady Eleanor Holland, daughter of Sir Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent and Alice FitzAlan. Thomas' mother was Princess Joan of Wales, daughter of Prince Edmund of Woodstock, himself a son of Edward I and Marguerite of France (aunt of Isabella of France, consort to Edward II). Joan was the first Princess of Wales. Thomas Holland's brother, the Duke of Exeter, married Elizabeth of Lancaster (sister of Henry IV of England), daughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and Blanche of Lancaster. The Duke and Duchess of Exeter's grandson Sir John Grey married Lady Katherine Percy, a granddaughter herself of Lady Joan Beaufort (daughter of John of Gaunt and wife no. 3, Katherine Roet) and Ralph Neville. By her father, Lady Katherine Percy was a great-granddaughter of Philippa, 5th Countess of Ulster, granddaughter of Edward III. The Duke of Exeter was succeeded by his son John, 2nd Duke of Exeter who married Lady Anne Stafford, daughter of the Edmund and Anne of Gloucester; granddaughter of Edward III by his son Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester and Eleanor de Bohun. Lady Anne Stafford's brother was the 1st Duke of Buckingham who married Anne Neville, granddaughter herself of John of Gaunt and Katherine Roet by Joan Beaufort and Ralph Neville. The Duke of Buckingham's eldest son married Margaret Beaufort, daughter of Joan Beaufort's nephew, Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset; son of John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset and Margaret Holland. Margaret Holland was sister of Lady Eleanor Holland, Countess of Salisbury (Lady Eleanor was the mother of Alice Montacute, 5th Countess of Salisbury).

Sir Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick and Salisbury

The 2nd Duke of Somerset married Lady Eleanor Beauchamp, sister of Henry de Beauchamp, 1st Duke of Warwick and Anne Neville, suo jure 16th Countess of Warwick (wife of "Warwick, the Kingmaker" and mother of the Queen consort of Richard III, Anne Neville). The 1st Duke of Warwick, had married Cecily Neville, daughter of the Richard Nevile and Alice Montacute, suo jure Countess of Salisbury). They had one daughter who died young, Anne, suo jure 15th Countess of Warwick. As stated, the title was inherited by her paternal aunt and maternal uncle!

Lady Margaret Beaufort

Another son of the Duke of Buckingham was the third husband of Lady Margaret Beaufort, daughter of the 1st Duke of Somerset, John Beaufort (the older brother of Edmund, 2nd Duke of Somerset) and Margaret of Bletso Beauchamp; paternal half-sister of Lady Anne Beauchamp, suo jure 16th Countess of Warwick. Lady Margaret Beaufort was the mother of King Henry VII of England. Margaret of Bletso's sister, Lady Elizabeth Beauchamp, married George Neville, 1st Baron Latimer; another son of Ralph Neville and Lady Joan Beaufort. Their son, Henry, would marry Joan Bourchier, the granddaughter of Anne of Gloucester (daughter of Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester; youngest son of Edward III) by her second husband Humphrey Bourchier. Henry's grandson would become the 3rd Baron Latimer and 2nd husband of Katherine Parr; later queen consort to Henry VIII. John Neville, the 3rd Baron's granddaughter Dorothy married the son of Lord Burghley, Thomas Cecil, Earl of Exeter. His other granddaughter, Catherine, married the 8th Earl of Northumberland. Dorothy and Catherine's mother, Lucy Somerset, was a great-granddaughter of King Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville through her maternal grandmother, Catherine of York, making her a 1st cousin to the Tudors (Arthur, King Henry, Queen Margaret of Scotland, and Queen Mary of France). Lucy Somerset's father, Henry Somerset was the son of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester; the legitimized son of Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset; son of the above mentioned 2nd Duke and Lady Eleanor Beauchamp. The 1st Earl of Worcester married firstly Elizabeth Herbert, 3rd Baroness daughter of Mary Woodville and niece of queen consort to Edward IV, Elizabeth Woodville. Lady Lucy Somerset was a lady-in-waiting to Queen consort Katherine Parr.

John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and Katherine Roet

Katherine Parr's 1st husband, Sir Edward Borough [Burgh] also descended from Lady Eleanor Beauchamp (paternal half-sister of Henry, 1st Duke of Warwick and Anne, suo jure 16th Countess of Warwick) by her first husband Thomas de Ros, 9th Baron. Borough's great-grandmother was Lady Anne Stafford, daughter of the 1st Duke of Buckingham (grandson of Edward III) and Lady Anne Neville; daughter of Lady Joan Beaufort (daughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster) and Ralph Neville thus making Borough a 3rd cousin, once removed of Katherine Parr. Borough's paternal great-grandmother, Eleanor Culpeper, was the daughter of Sir Thomas of Bayall and Alianore Greene; daughter of Nicholas Greene of Exton; son of Sir Thomas Greene (ancestor of Katherine Parr).

Contemporary portrait of Lady Cecily Neville, Duchess of York

After marrying Thomas, Earl of Kent, Joan of Wales re-married to Edward, Prince of Wales (son of Edward III) and was the mother of Richard II. The Earl of Kent was father to Alianore Holland who married Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March who was heir presumptive of her half-uncle Richard II by right of his mother, Lady Philippa, suo jure Countess of Ulster (daughter of Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, elder brother of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster). Through her daughter Anne who married Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge, son of Prince Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York (another son of Edward III) and Isabella of Castile; she was the great-grandmother of Edward IV and Richard III through her grandson the 3rd Duke of York who married Lady Alice Neville's aunt, Cecily, Duchess of York, daughter of Lady Joan Beaufort and Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmorland from the above lineage.

Queen Regent, Joan I of Navarre

As to Alice FitzAlan, wife of Sir Thomas Holland, Earl of Kent, her father was Richard "Copped Hat" FitzAlan, Earl of Arundel who descended from the Warenn line; which goes back to Geoffrey Plantagenet. Alice's mother was Lady Eleanor of Lancaster Plantagenet, granddaughter of Prince Edmund, 1st Earl of Lancaster Plantagenet (son of King Henry III and Eleanor of Provence) and Blanche of Artois, Queen of Navarre by her first marriage to Henry I (Blanche was the daughter of Robert of France Artois; son of King Louis VIII of France and Blanche of Castile). Blanche's daughter by Henry I of Navarre would be Queen Regent Joan of Navarre, queen consort of France and mother of Isabella of France, consort to Edward II. Blanche of Artois's mother was Matilda of Brabant, a great-granddaughter of Frederick I of the Holy Roman Empire and his wife Beatrice, Countess of Burgundy.

Prince Thomas of Woodstock, Earl of Norfolk and Alice Hayles

Lady Elizabeth FitzHugh married William Parr, was widowed, then married Nicholas Vaux, Baron Vaux of Harrowden who's lineage goes back to the Mowbray's via the Lucy's. Nicholas was the protege of Lady Margaret Beaufort (mother of King Henry VII). Through Nicholas, the Parr's got a wonderful upbringing thanks to him. Sir John, 4th Baron Mowbray and Lady Elizabeth Segrave, suo jure Baroness Seagrave. Both John and Elizabeth had Plantagenet mother's. Elizabeth's mother was Lady Margaret, suo jure Duchess of Norfolk, daughter of Prince Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk and Alice Hayles. Prince Thomas was the son of Edward I and his second wife, Marguerite of France and subsequently the brother of Edmund of Woodstock.

Sunday, 5 June 2011

All of King Henry's wives had one thing in common, they all descended from Edward I; some by his first wife Eleanor of Castile or by his second, Marguerite of France; and in some cases both! In Hampton Court Palace in King Henry VIII's apartment there are six stained glassed windows showing his wives pedigrees from King Edward I. As some were descended mutiple times or by both wives the more prominent ancestry was featured. It is quite a site and if you ever have the chance to visit when the light is right you will be in awe!

From Atonia Fraser's The Wives of Henry VIII, pg 363:

The following genealogy should be seen as a reflection of the narrowness of aristocratic society in a world of small population, rather than as some unconscious desire [that King Henry VIII might have] to commit forms of incest as has been suggested. The wives of Henry VIII were not "closely" related or to King Henry himself. The exception would be of the first cousins Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard; Henry's 2nd and 5th wife whom shared the same grandfather, Sir Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk by his 1st wife Elizabeth Tilney (herself the daughter of Elizabeth Cheney by her first husband Sir Philip Tilney. Elizabeth married secondly Sir John Say. Her daughter Anne would become grandmother to Queen consort Jane Seymour, thus making Queen Anne, Queen Jane, and Queen Catherine Howard second cousins).

The Hampton Court Pedigrees

The SIX pedigrees of Henry VIII's Wives, Henry's Apartments;
linking them all back to King Edward I